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Andrea Palladio
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Definition
Italian architect (1508–1580) whose work and writings have had more influence on Western architecture than almost any other individual. Palladio codified Roman principles of proportion and order in his Four Books of Architecture (1570), creating a style — Palladianism — that shaped British, American, and European architecture for centuries.
Example
Villa La Rotonda near Vicenza (1571) — a square villa with four identical porticoes and a central domed hall — became the most copied building in architectural history, inspiring buildings from Chiswick House in London to the US Capitol.